Saturday, November 29, 2003

Now, about that pie. As I said, it looked pretty. It also tasted good, even if the filling was runny. The crust was remarkable, especially considering that such readers as come here have borne and reared children in the interval since I last made a homemade crust. I attribute that success to a recipe I found in this cookbook, Cooking with Cajun Women. Here it is, with all respect and thanks to Ms. Mazel Lassiegne:

Cut shortening into flour and salt. Mix well. Combine egg, water and vinegar. Pour liquid mixture into flour mixture all at once. Blend with spoon just until flour is all moistened. Form into two portions. This pastry can be re-rolled without toughening. Will keep in refrigerator for two weeks, until you are ready to fill the crust. Makes two 9-inch pie crusts or one 9-inch double crust.

Oh, and the pie was a little sharp tasting. But that can be remedied with a scoop of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream.

The kit is going to Lyman's sister's house, so her son can earn his rite of passage to manhood in Louisiana. He is about 25, I think. It's past time.

By the way, how would you phrase that?earn his manhood?undergo rite of passage?

A lesser-known delicacy particularly good for small groups is fried cornish game hen, prepared just as you would turkey but cooked a shorter time. You can cook a few of these for, say, a threesome or foursome.

Sunday, November 23, 2003

Older son is coming for Thanksgiving. Questions are resolved. Menu: homemade yeast rolls, shrimp cocktail, salad with mustard vinaigrette, Chicken Francese, fresh vegetable casserole, oven-roasted potatoes, apple-cranberry pie. This will be a run for the Christmas luncheon we do for Lyman's siblings and parents in December.

Friday, November 21, 2003

I am privileged to live within blocks of one of the great rivers of the world. City fathers have worked their magic to secure funds (your dollars) to build a walkway within a puny stone's throw of this great river.

My sister is an avid walker who loves to walk in this town. She praised the riverwalk to no end when she was here in March. I want to do it, too.

Tuesday, November 18, 2003

Thanksgiving. For ten years, we or I have packed the car and gone to Dallas for Thanksgiving to spend time with my Mother. Lyman's boys have travelled to Dallas to spend time with their mother. This year is different.

Mother is gone, and work is keeping the boys close to home. The younger is off to Ponchatoula to spend the day with his girlfriend's family. Michael hasn't said. Lyman's parents have an invitation to his sister's house.

Monday, November 17, 2003

Politics, they say, are personal in Louisiana, and Lyman told me a story today that confirms it. One of our lifelong friends, a Democrat, voted for Kathleen Blanco because "[she] couldn't get over the feeling that he [Jindal] looked like he would have allegiance to Iraq, or Iran, or one of them places".

That is beyond racism as we know it in the south. That is xenophobia.

There were good reasons for her to vote against Jindal. He is Republican. He is a newcomer. He is young to have the "gravitas" to carry office. He holds social views that she may not like. She's wary of people who use big words.

But she said she didn't like that he's an Indian. That's because Lyman told her that the man was neither Iraqi, nor Iranian, but Indian.

I would like to second the call in this post by Scott Chaffin. Alex Del Castillo of New Orleans, what is your reaction to the election in Louisiana?

My own is that we could have done worse. Ms. Blanco has a reputation for ethical administration of her offices. She, in her role as lieutenant governor, developed working relationships with areas across the state, including ours. She won't do harm.

Friday, November 14, 2003

The Baton Rouge Advocate runs a story today about the national perception of the governor's race. I like this part:

"It sends a tremendously progressive message about the state," Bob DeRocker, a New York-based site selection consultant who specializes in finding sites for corporate expansions and relocations, said of the gubernatorial race. "You contrast that with 12 years ago, where you have, by Edwin Edwards' own characterization, as [sic] the race between The Wizard and The Lizard."

Thursday, November 13, 2003

Back to my assessment of the Hoover Steamvac Deluxe. We, the machine and I, tackled the high traffic areas in the master and the guest bedroom.

The carpet in the guest bedroom, where there is little traffic on the 14-year-old synthetic, looks nearly new. In the master, carpet the same age looks clean (without any pre-treatment, but highest detergent recommended) but matted some after all these years.

I finished the job at about 1 pm. It's a little damp underfoot, but I think we'll be able to walk on it before bedtime.

These carpets were last cleaned professionally about 5 years ago after we painted the rooms. I've done spot cleaning over the years, but nothing beats a proper cleaning.

So far, I'm very pleased with the machine. I wish I'd had it ten years ago when I moved into this house. A run every two or three months would have kept traffic areas much spiffier.

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

So, I'm talking to my brother, the gay one, you know, the Vietnam war vet, and he says, "I must say it's a little disconcerting to watch Jindal speak in a southern accent. It seems out of place until you remember that he was born in Baton Rouge." (My brother also told me that well-made drapes in good fabric should last 15 years.)

The Indian couple, the Patels, who own the local Budget Inn up on the highway have a political statement -- for the first time I remember -- on their marquee: "Vote Bobby Jindal for governor".

Pakistanis in north Louisiana have formed a group and contributed to Kathleen Blanco's campaign.

A north Louisianan writing in the forum at nola.com wrote "I've heard people say 'A choice between a sand-nigger and a woman? I ain't going to vote.'"

The candidates are pointing at each other and claiming "Negative ad! Negative ad!" and the political scientists are saying they haven't seen anything negative yet. (See post below.)

It's sort of an interesting race for there to be two candidates with not a quarter's worth of difference in their positions.

I'm voting for Jindal because he's young and smart. But I'll bet you that quarter that Blanco wins. It's a Democratic state, after all.

Sunday, November 09, 2003

In the midst of a dreary article about negative campaigning in The Times Picayune comes this little gem about real negative campaigning in a governor's race:

Many point to Edwin Edwards' first race for governor in 1971, which included a minor candidate named Warren J. "Puggy" Moity, who ran an infamous Sunday morning television show devoted to political mudslinging. He harped on Edwards and called him gay. Edwards later neutralized the accusations by strolling up to Moity at a political forum and kissing him on the cheek.

Saturday, November 08, 2003

I keep going back to this post at Dr. Joyner's. An excerpt from the link:

The stimulation of the emotional centres shows that shopping is a stress relief. People do not have to think, and the brain rewards them with pleasurable feelings. By shopping, they are bypassing stress and just going with the pleasurable flow,'' he added.

Isn't even the most mundane shopping a form of stress relief? Who isn't greatly relieved when they replenish their toilet tissue supply? Or coffee? Or bath soap? Or milk?

A crazed carjacker was served a generous helping of tea, but absolutely no sympathy, by an elderly woman whose Mercedes-Benz he tried messing with in Mashpee, police charged.

Mark Corkery, 32, of Sandwich was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail yesterday at his arraignment in Falmouth District Court. Police said his getaway was foiled when the scrappy senior splashed hot tea on his face and beaned him with a mug that shattered.

``I said, `Get out of my damn car now,' '' Jean Ridino, 57, of Waltham told WBZ-TV (Ch. 4). ``He never even bled. I thought he was a robot.''

Granted, at 57 Ms. Ridino might be no spring chicken, but elderly? Give the girl a break.

Thursday, November 06, 2003

Today was its first run on area rugs we use in front of the sink and stovetop. No, there were two runs. The first produced a waste that was close to mud. The second, a waste that was a couple of steps clearer. I like it.

Wednesday, November 05, 2003

Election Notes from The Times Picayune includes an interesting interchange between Mayor Nagin of New Orleans, a Democrat who endorses Bobby Jindal for Governor, and Democrat Senator Mary Landrieu:

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin accused U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu of hypocrisy Tuesday after she suggested he had betrayed the Democratic Party with his endorsement of Republican Bobby Jindal for governor. Landrieu, who is backing Democrat Kathleen Blanco, issued a statement Monday saying she was "surprised and disappointed" that Nagin would support a candidate "whose national party advocates the lowering of the minimum wage, cutting of health care and underfunding of education reform efforts." On a radio show and through a spokesman Tuesday, Nagin pointed out that Landrieu had touted her own support of President Bush and his GOP administration while campaigning for re-election last year. "The mayor and many other Democrats were just as surprised when Landrieu took a stance in the runoff for Senate that she voted 74 percent of the time with President Bush," said Nagin spokesman Patrick Evans, echoing the mayor's comments on a radio show Tuesday morning. Nagin also said Landrieu failed to endorse Democrat Cleo Fields against Republican Mike Foster after she was edged out of the 1995 gubernatorial runoff by Fields. A spokesman for Landrieu declined to comment on Nagin's response. "We'll just stick with the (Monday) statement," said Mark Mintz. "Going tit-for-tat is not in the best interests of anybody."

We're home. I know this will sound ungrateful, but ten days cooped up in a small apartment with vibrant personalities like Lyman and Lucy, with the surf pounding relentlessly, is a little too long. By about half, I'd say.

Monday, November 03, 2003

A new place has appeared in Gulf Shores for entertainment. It's called Paint 'N Parrot, and is a shop where you can select a pottery piece, paint it onsite and have it fired to pick up later. It's a bit expensive (what isn't down here) at $8 hour and the cost of the raw pottery piece, but the $8 includes all paint and firing. It's advertised as a place for birthday parties, wedding showers, and other group projects. We stopped by today. The woman running it is a short fat woman, willing to talk about any subject all day. She told us to bring our adult beverages and paint to our hearts' content. A group of women had come in a few days ago from 5:30 to 9:00 and not finished painting. We declined, but put her flyer and card in our activity book. It's an interesting notion, and I wish her well.

Just down the way there was a display that bothered me. People like the art I chose for this condo. The front room is filled with Harrison's art. It's a little weird, but it's in the right colors and it suits my taste. It's painted on wood composite with rough frames. Our guests like it. There are a couple of Florida artists who are trying to replicate the effect (who knows? Maybe one is Jerry Harrison) down to the angularity of the signature. I saw one small piece, a village scene, that I liked. I like the work here better.

Sunday, November 02, 2003

So, I'm looking around the place, checking on needed repairs and such, and I notice that somehow two bits of weaving are missing on the Henry Link television cabinet. I mention the name to let you know that this is tough stuff. So someone has whacked it hard or spent time removing those bits. Hmmm ...

Someone of our acquaintance has gone the extra step and added fabric softener to the load of dish towels they washed, making them nearly useless in the kitchen. That's a peeve. I use no fabric softener anywhere in the laundry. I have yet to figure out what it's good for besides fragrance.